Livedoor, Fuji open talks

Company may sell new shares to rival

Japanese Internet portal Livedoor, which has been battling for control of the country’s largest media group, said it’s in talks with its main adversary, Fuji Television Network, about a possible alliance.

A spokesman for Tokyo-based Livedoor made the comments after the Yomiuri newspaper reported today that the company may sell new shares to Fuji TV, giving Japan’s largest TV network a 15% stake.

Livedoor would also sell part of its 50% holding in radio net Nippon Broadcasting System to Fuji TV, the paper said.

Livedoor prexy and founder Takafumi Horie has sought talks with Fuji TV execs to form an alliance spanning the Internet and the information and entertainment industries.

The Fujisankei Communications Group, Japan’s biggest media conglom, which runs both Fuji TV and Nippon Broadcasting, had been resisting Horie’s unsolicited bid for the radio network.

Even with a share exchange with Fuji TV, Livedoor may retain just over one-third of Nippon Broadcasting to keep veto power on board decisions, according to the newspaper report.